Michigan says PFAS makes all fish in Huron River unsafe to eat

Michigan officials now say PFAS tests show that all fish in a five-county span of the Huron River contain too much contamination for people to eat them.

An updated warning from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) expanded two "do not eat" warnings from earlier in August, now saying all fish in the waterway from Oakland County to Lake Erie should not be consumed.

The advisory affects the river and tributaries in the Southeast Michigan counties of Livingston, Washtenaw, Wayne and Monroe. They are in addition to Oakland County, where "high PFOS surface water levels were found upstream of Kent Lake" in Kensington Metropark.

"This is not common to issue a Do Not Eat advisory for this large of a waterbody," said Angela Minicuci, spokesperson for the MDHHS.

PFOS is a type of PFAS, a term that represents a group of water-repellent chemicals known as per- and poly-flourinated compounds, which have links to cancer, liver damage, birth defects and autoimmune diseases.

The warning represents the third expansion of the health advisory since it first was issued on August 4. The initial warning addressed Kent Lake and areas of Livingston County and northern Washtenaw County.

"It's just so disappointing and frustrating," said Laura Rubin, executive director of the Huron River Watershed Council, as she considered the expanded warning.

"We've done so much work on the Huron and hold it up to be a high-quality resource," she said of the 136-mile river. "... Now we're facing extensive cleanup.

"We could face decades before we can eat fish from the Huron."

State officials said after the first warning that both black crappie and largemouth bass collected in 2017 in Kent Lake were used for the fish sampling. Ten fish of each type were tested, with black crappie PFOS averaging 1,029 parts per billion (ppb) and the largemouth bass averaging 1,481 ppb.

The state moves fish into the "do not eat" category when it tests at a level of 300 ppb of PFOS or higher. In comparison, fish at 9 ppb are considered safe to eat for 16 meals per month, the lowest advisory level in state guidelines for PFOS.

Data from other fish tests span from 2015 to 2018, according to test results.

Base Line Lake in Livingston/Washtenaw: Largemouth bass collected in 2018 showed average PFOS at 205 ppb, with the highest at 366.

Base Line Lake along Huron River in Washtenaw: Rock bass collected in 2015 showed average PFOS at 313 ppb, with the highest at 487.

Huron River at Flat Rock: Channel catfish collected in 2017 showed average PFOS at non-detect levels, with the highest at 22 ppb.

PFAS contamination is a Michigan-wide concern. The state has been testing for the contamination all year, targeting municipal water systems, wastewater treatment plants, schools and landfills.

In July, the city of Parchment had to shut down its water system after high levels were discovered; other areas with ongoing issues of high contamination include northern Kent County, Grayling and Oscoda.

PFAS has been found in Ann Arbor's drinking water since 2014, with tests showing it consistently under the lifetime health advisory of 70 ppt. However, concerns with the city's PFAS coming from the Huron River prompted a wave of testing that started this summer as the state attempted to identify source contamination.

Rubin said that the large-scale fish warning does not mean that people need to stop drinking their tap water, nor should swimmers in the lakes be affected.

Meanwhile, health officials and the HRWC are getting "do not eat" signs out to the affected bodies of water this weekend.

"People should not eat the fish," Rubin said. "That's the most important thing we can convey at this point."